Silicon photonic devices and systems use silicon as an optical medium for generation, emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and detection/sensing of light. In silicon photonic devices, for example, the silicon can be patterned on an insulator (e.g., such as silica) with sub-micrometer precision, into microphotonic components, which can operate in the infrared regime, e.g., at 1.55 μm wavelength.